On 1 & 2 December 2016, I attended the European Conference on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for Higher Education at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.
Keynote Address: Robert O’Dowd
Robert O’Dowd from the University of Leon spoke about COIL initiatives across university education: Learning to learn from each other. You can access his slides here: https://www.slideshare.net/dfmro
Keynote address by Dr. Darla K. Deardorff
Dr Darla Deardorff, from the Association of International Education Administrators at Duke University debunked some myths of Intercultural Learning: The MYTHS:
- Intercultural learning is about cross-border learning
- Just bring people together and “magic” will happen
- Intercultural contact is sufficient
- Some courses are already “international” or don’t lend themselves to intercultural learning
- Intercultural learning cannot be assessed.
She gave some useful strategies for becoming more interculturally competent, preparing for intercultural interactions and some implications for successful internationalisation, all backed up by significant research.
A huge thank you to the THUAS COIL Committee for bringing this informative event together:
Zestee 